With little snow, California wilts

Unusually dry winter hammers state's economy

New York Times

New York Times

Published 7:24 pm, Saturday, January 18, 2014

A marina on Lake Folsom sits dry and useless as an unseasonably dry winter in California stokes fears of a severe drought, near Folsom, Calif., Jan. 15, 2014. Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Friday, which will allow California to seek federal aid as it grapples with what could turn out to be the driest year in recorded state history for many areas. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT31

A marina on Lake Folsom sits dry and useless as an unseasonably dry...

This winter is so unusual that California cattle ranchers have had to sell portions of their herd for lack of water.

Sacramento and other towns have imposed severe water restrictions. Wildfires broke out last week in forests that are usually too wet to ignite. Ski resorts that normally open in December are still closed; at one here in the Sierra Nevada that is open, a bear wandered onto a slope full of skiers last week, apparently not hibernating because of the balmy weather.

On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown made it official: California is suffering from a drought, perhaps one for the record books.

The water shortage has Californians trying to deal with problems that usually arise in midsummer. With little snow in the forecast, experts are warning this drought, after one of the driest years on record last year, could be as disruptive as the severe droughts of the '70s.

Under state law, that would allow the governor to "waive laws or regulations and expedite some funding," said Jeanine Jones, deputy drought manager for the state Department of Water Resources. "It does not create a new large pot of money for drought response or make federal funding available."

Signs of drought are everywhere, affecting vast sectors of the economy.

A sense of dread is building among farmers, many of whom have let fields go fallow. Without more water, an estimated 200,000 acres of prime agriculture land will go unplanted in Fresno County, according to Westlands Water District officials. Cattle ranchers accustomed to letting cows graze on rain-fed grass have had to rely on bought hay or reduce their herds.

Clergy of all faiths have been exhorting the faithful to pray for precipitation. "May God open the heavens, and let his mercy rain down upon our fields and mountains," Bishop Jaime Soto, the state's Roman Catholic conference president, said last week. The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations followed suit by announcing that area mosques would offer the traditional rain prayer, Salatul Istisqa.

California gets much of its water from the snowpack of the Sierra Nevada, so towns like this one have a front-row view of the problem. The base at Donner Ski Ranch, a family-owned resort with limited snow-making capacity, was less than a foot of snow this week. Usually, it would be several feet deep in January, like at other resorts in the Sierras.

"This is the worst I've ever seen," said Lincoln Kauffman, 55, the resort's general manager, who has been skiing in these mountains since the early 1970s. "I think 1976 and 1977 were comparable to this — that was a really tough one. I remember the restrictions on showers and flushing toilets."

Near Sacramento, the Folsom Lake reservoir's level has fallen so much that remnants of a Gold Rush-era ghost town are now visible. The San Juan Water District, which serves communities near Sacramento and relies on water from Folsom Lake, has asked customers to reduce their water usage by 20 percent and in some areas cease all outdoor watering. In Santa Cruz, about 75 miles south of San Francisco, the city banned restaurants from providing drinking water unless it is requested.

The snowpack plays a critical part in what is one of the world's most sophisticated and complex water delivery systems, supplying water to more than 25 million people and the $44.7 billion agricultural industry. The snow that piles up on the Sierra Nevada's 400-mile range during the winter acts as a reserve that start to melt in the spring. The melting snow drains into rivers that feed reservoirs below, providing water to densely populated areas hundreds of miles south in Southern California.

Given the snowpack's significance to the state's farmers and water boards, winter snow surveys are carried out monthly starting every January. In a ritual that often makes it on to the front pages of newspapers in California, the chief snow surveyor, Frank Gehrke, measures the depth of the snowpack every month by plunging aluminum tubes into the same spot along Highway 50 in the Sierra.

After the survey this month, the Department of Water Resources said the snowpack was only 20 percent of the historical average.

The lack of precipitation has been caused in large part by a high-pressure zone stretching along the coast from Oregon to northern Mexico. The zone acts like a mountain range, blocking storm systems.